Scientific Names

American hazelnut is a shrub that grows to 10 feet tall; the stems and leafstalks have stiff hairs. The leaves are heart-shaped, double-toothed, growing to 5 inches long. The plant flowers in April to May. The fruits are edible nuts encased in beaked, toothed bracts.Back to Top

According to the old-timers, eating too many hazelnuts can cause gas, stomach ache, and headache. They claimed if a snake was struck with a hazel wand, it became stunned, because it is pliable and will wind closer around the snake to limit its motion.

Country folk claim if the hazel nuts have thick shells, the winter will be bleak; if their shells are thin, the winter will be mild.Back to Top

Native Americans drank bark tea for hives, fevers. The bark poultice is used to close cuts, treat tumors, old sores, and skin cancers. Like hawthorn, hazelnut is known to improve the heart, and to prevent hardening of the arteries. But their alleged aphrodisiac properties may suggest that people with heart problems should stay off of the hazelnut. The twig hairs were used by Native Americans and historically by physicians to expel worms.Back to Top